Winter sports
When snowfall cooperates, skiing and snowboarding are possible throughout the Harz and many towns are geared up for winter sports, making equipment rental easy and inexpensive. Tobogganing is very popular, with special runs in many places and the cross-country skiing trail network well developed.
The main downhill centres are at Braunlage and St Andreasberg in the central Harz and Hahnenklee in the north, but there are half a dozen smaller spots too. Braunlage often has the best conditions and offers a good selection of runs to keep most skiers and boarders happy for a long weekend. Check harz-ski.de for conditions throughout the range.
Braunlage is also home to the ice hockey team Harzer Wölfe (harzer-woelfe.de), a reasonably talented, and fairly rabidly supported, outfit who play in the stadium in the centre of town. Catching a game can be good fun for the atmosphere and chants alone.
Spas
The finest spas and saunas in the Harz are in some of its smallest towns, where good signposting generally means they’re easy to find; enquire at a local tourist office for bus connections if you don’t have your own transport.
Bodetal Therme Parkstr. 4, Thale,0170 528 55 66. The newest spa in the Harz, with a lovely selection of saunas and steam rooms and the crowning glory of some terrific views. 4hr for €12. Mon–Wed & Sun 10am–10pm, Thurs–Sat 10am–11pm.
Heisser Brocken Karl-Reinecke-Weg 35, Altenau, 05328 91 15 70, kristalltherme-altenau.de. Relatively new and well-designed sauna complex, 20km northwest of Braunlage, with excellent views over wooded hills from several outdoor pools (one with a waterfall). Three hours: €10.80. Mon–Thurs & Sun 9am–10pm, Fri & Sat 9am–11pm.
Sole-Therme Nordhäuser Str. 2a, Bad Harzburg, 05322 753 60, sole-therme-bad-harzburg.de. Rambling pool and sauna complex with many different heated outdoor pools, saunas and steam rooms, including one in which you rub salt into your body. Day-ticket €12. Mon–Sat 8am–9pm, Sun 8am–7pm.
Vitamar Masttal 1, Bad Lauterberg 05524 85 06 65, vitamar.de. Large family-friendly pool and small swank sauna complex, 18km southwest of Braunlage. Three hours: €9.60. Mon–Fri 10am–10pm, Sat & Sun 10am–9pm.
Rübeland
The severe little town of RÜBELAND strung out along the Bode River, 15km from Thale, has been on the tourist map ever since the 600,000-year-old Baumannshöhle cave was discovered by a fifteenth-century miner. Goethe toured the cave three times, as did Heine, treading in the footsteps of Stone Age inhabitants and Ice Age bears, some of whose skeletons are on display. The neighbouring Hermannshöhle is more modest, but its stalagmites and stalactites more impressive. The two sets of caves tend to open on alternate days; call in advance to find out.
Schierke and the Brocken
The large village of SCHIERKE gathers at the foot of the Brocken (1142m), the Harz’s highest peak, 15km west of Rübeland, and is the last stop for the narrow-gauge Brockenbahn. Hiking up the Brocken is the obvious attraction, but there are many other good rock-climbing, biking and hiking routes in the area, including two enjoyable shorter walks to jagged rock formations: the Feuersteinklippen are just thirty minutes’ walk away, the Scharcherklippen ninety minutes. Pick up free maps at the tourist office. In winter there’s first-class snowshoeing and cross-country skiing on a 70km-long trail network.
The Brocken
Given its mystical reputation (see “Walpurgisnacht”), and as the highest peak in the Harz, the ascent of the Brocken is for many a vital part of a Harz itinerary. So if you’re after peace look elsewhere. Options to ascend it include the Brockenbahn railway (€18 one-way), horse-drawn wagon – or sleigh in winter (both around €20 return; contact tourist office in Schierke) – or on foot. From Schierke, the sealed but traffic-free Brockenstrasse makes for a straightforward 12km hike, but is probably a better descent, taking the more interesting and scenic 7km route via Eckerloch up. The Brockenmuseum by the railway terminus near the summit has exhibits about geology and the mountain’s mythology, but says little about the GDR era, when the Brocken was a military no-go area for Germans. The easy 2.5km path around the summit offers good views over the blanket of trees that covers the Harz and some of the settlements in the foothills.